SOLWAY MATCH WAS ABANDONED LAST WEEK
SO WE HAVE AN INSIGHT INTO WHAT BUDZIE IS
DOING TO PREPARE THE TEAM FOR THE PLAYOFFS.

THIS WEEK WE HAVE A FULL FOUR PAGES ON
JIM PENNYCOOK FROM HIS FIRST MATCH ALL
THE WAY THROUGH TO THE LEGENDS GAME.

04. ROUND UP

28. OFFICIAL SIGNALS

A ROUND UP OF RECENT NEWS FROM PLANET

SEE WHAT ALL THOSE REFEREE

HAWKS

GESTURES MEAN WITH OUR PICTORIAL

10. ICE HOCKEY REVIEW

GUIDE.

ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND RESULTS FROM

29. PLAYER SPOTLIGHT

OUR LEAGUE AND BEYOND

JAMES RIDDOCH TELLS US HOW IT ALL

20. TEAMSHEETS
TEAM SHEETS FOR THE HAWKS & THE WILD.

STARTED OUT FOR HIM AND WHERE ICE
HOCKEY IS TAKING HIM NOW

YOU CAN FILL IN ALL OF THE RESULTS HERE AS

34. THE FIXER

THEY HAPPEN

GRAHAM LOMAX AND FRIENDS HAVE

22. PLAYOFF UPDATE
THE UPCOMING PLAYOFFS FOR WHICH THE
HAWKS HAVE ALREADY QUALIFIED. KEEP AN
EYE OUT FOR THE LATEST NEWS AND INFO

BEEN OVER THE WATER TO HELSINKI
READ WHAT THEY GOT UP TO.

ENTS

3 PROGRAMME CONTENTS

VS

CAPS COLUMN
EVERY WEEK CHRIS ARNONE POSTS HIS ANALYSIS
AND THOUGHTS ON OUR MOST RECENT MATCHES IN
THE LANCASHIRE TELEGRAPH. THE PAGE IS UPDATED EVERY TUESDAY SO HEAD ON OVER THERE
TO READ UP ON THE MATCH REPORT FROM OUR
RECENT LEAGUE MATCH AT SHEFFIELD VS. THE
STING. CHRIS’ ARTICLE IS USUALLY POSTED QUITE
QUICKLY ON OUR OFFICIAL WEBSITE, FACEBOOK,
SUPPORTERS PAGE AND ON OUR TEAM APP. YOU
CAN ALSO BUY THE LANCASHIRE TELEGRAPH ON
TUESDAY AND READ IT THERE.

This week we welcome back Ollie Lomax from injury. Ollie has used his
time out to good effect though to give some of his experience over to the
Streethawks with Chris Riley and his team on Monday evenings at
YouthZone in Blackburn. Ollie has still been training with the Hawks so
should be at his best from the off. It has also been great to see Ollie
Supporting the Hawks at every match both home and away.
Last week saw our match against Solway abandoned after the Solway
team were caught up in a traffic jam following a fatal crash on the M6.
The Solway team made a valiant attempt to get through but ended up
spending over four hours sitting in non-moving traffic. This match is now
rescheduled to take place on the 20th March with a 5:45pm face off as
usual.
There will be a Supporters Club members meeting on 13th March at
2:30PM where we will be bringing you all up to date with the latest news
and developments. Please bring your Supporters Club membership card
if you do wish to join us as you will not gain entry without one. You can
still join the SC by filling in a form and paying at reception. If you wish
to have a say in the future of the Blackburn Hawks Supporters Club then
join up now.

DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T STOP BELIEVING!
John Milton

6 BUDZIE’SVIEWS

COACH’S

WITH NO MATCH LAST WEEK THERE IS NOT MUCH FOR US TO
SAY. WE HAVE NEWS OF A VERY WELCOME RETURN FOR OLLIE
LOMAX AND AS WE GET CLOSER TO THE END OF THE SEASON
AND WITH WHITLEY SNAPPING AT OUR HEELS, ALL OF OUR
REMAINING LEAGUE GAMES ARE VERY IMPORTANT.
IF YOU CAN MAKE A SPECIAL EFFORT TO TRAVEL THEN
NOW IS THE TIME. FOUR MASSIVE GAMES AND A MASSIVE
REWARD AWAIT US FOR HAWKS PLAYERS AND FANS ALIKE

Good evening one and all and a
warm welcome to our visitors
tonight, Widnes Wild. We’ve got a
bit of a break from League
action for a while now and with last
weekends game being postponed
it’s even longer, but the good thing
about it is that it gives me an ideal
opportunity to have another look at
our lines as we head into the Play
Off’s and final league games. With
the loss of Rjay I’ve been having a
look at few combinations and I’ll
have another opportunity over the
coming weeks to mix it up again
now. One thing that I’ve noticed
is that it’s getting tight now as we
head down the final straight, which
makes for a good entertaining run
in. Yes there have been some blow
outs during the season but on the
whole it’s been a very competitive
season for all teams involved,
including ourselves, which is a
great advertisement for the league
itself. I have to take my hat off to
the arena management last week
for holding out as long as they

could in trying to get the game on.
Sadly it was not to be, and also a
fair play to Solway for making the
effort to get here, they could have
easily thrown the towel in, but they
didn’t and that is again testament
to how this league has progressed.
Finally I have some good news...
Welcome Back Ollie!!
After weeks of being on the
sidelines he’s been given the green
light to come back and play. It’s
an ideal time for us to see how he
is, we all know how frustrated he’s
been and it’s now time to let the
dog off the leash!!
Speak Soon

BUDZIE

HUDDLE

7 BUDZIESVIEWS

Blackburn Hawks Cup Record

Widnes Wild Cup Record

Played 2 | Won 2 | Drawn 0 | Lost 0 | Points 4

Played 1 | Won 0 | Drawn 0 | Lost 1 | Points 0

BEN SIMISTER
(Photo John Milton (eventog.uk)

GOAL CELEBRATION
(Photo John Milton (eventog.uk)

10 ICEHOCKEYREVIEW

Solway Sharks’ late charge for
the play offs suffered a setback
after their game away at Blackburn on Sunday night had to be
postponed. The team coach got
stuck in traffic after an accident
on the M6 and they couldn’t get
to the rink in time. That game
has now been re-arranged for
20th March.
The weekend had started well
for the Sharks as they beat
Billingham Stars 4-2 on Sunday
night and they are now one of
three teams – along with Stars
and Sutton - who all have 23
points and are within striking
distance of Telford Tigers who
currently occupy 4th place.
Solway have games in hand
over the others in the pack as
the two games that were
postponed due to the bad
weather before Christmas –
against Telford and Sutton - are
still to be played and will now
be played for double points
when those teams next visit
Dumfries.
The Stars had a bad weekend
all round as, following that
defeat in Scotland, they then
lost 1-3 at home to Sutton Sting
on Sunday evening. The Sting

outshot their hosts and were
0-2 up at the end of the first
period. A consolation goal
midway thought the second
period gave the Stars some
hope but they were finished
off by an empty net goal in the
dying seconds of the game after
as they brought on an extra
attacker in search of that
elusive equaliser.
Solihull Barons extended their
safety cushion in 3rd place to
5 points after a 7-5 home win
over midlands rivals Telford
Tigers. They have 3 games
in hand over 2nd place Whitley Warriors but are 13 points
adrift so are unlikely to be in
the mix for the runners up spot
this season.
The Warriors picked up a
relatively easy 10-1 win over
bottom team Sheffield
Senators, outshooting the cellar
dwellers 86 to 17. Interestingly
enough, the Senators actually
scored first after just 48
seconds but that was as good
as it got for the iceSheffield
team. That win moves the Warriors up to within 5 points of
leaders Blackburn Hawks – with
a game in hand.

11 ICEHOCKEYREVIEW
The biggest game in the Laidler
Conference saw Altrincham
Aces close upon 4th place
Blackburn Eagles in what is becoming a fascinating battle for
the final play-off spot.
The Eagles had a 6 point cushion going into the game and
were leading 1-3 at the first
break. However the Aces
fought back with a 4-2 second
period to square the match going into the final third and then
made sure of the win with 4 unanswered goals. Top scorer for
the Aces was Joe Greaves with
1+3 and former EPL player Jake

Nurse chipped in with 4 assists.
The Aces are now 4 points
behind the Eagles with both
teams having 6 games left to
play and the two teams meet in
Blackburn for the final game of
the season on 27th March.
Nottingham Lions continue to
be in the running for second
place – and a promotion playoff spot – after a 3-0 shutout of
Bradford Bulldogs on Sunday
night. The night before, Bradford had hauled themselves off
the bottom of the table with a
7-4 win over Hull Jets.

LOOKING BACK AT JIM PENNYCOOK
In terms of ice hockey royalty, you
can’t get much more regal than Jim
Pennycook who arrived to play for the
Hawks for the 1995-96 season in HBL1
season. Until the recent league NIHL
North title success, that was the Hawks
best ever season (finishing second
behind Manchester Storm) and their
highest ever finishing position in the
British ice hockey hierarchy (runners up
in the second tier).
Before the British League had even
Jim Pennycook (in action for Fife Flyers against Dundee
started in 1982, Pennycook already had
Rockets in the Heineken League Premier Division in 1987
6 seasons of top class ice hockey under
(Photo by Ian Alexander)
his belt in the tough Northern League
playing at first with his hometown Dundee Rockets and then with Murrayfield Racers where he won three NL titles. During this time he won international honours with Scotland and also represented Great Britain at 3 World Championships (4 overall (1977- Denmark, Pool C / 1979 – Spain, Pool C / 1981 – China, Pool C – 23 / 1989 – Belgium, Pool D - 23
games / scoring 7+8).
Chic Cottrell – another former GB international (1979 – Spain, Pool C) - spent his whole career at Fife Flyers playing in the Northern League and then the HBL so he knows all the Scottish players from that period
really well. He said of Pennycook:
I first met Jimmy when I was playing for Fife against Dundee in the old Kingsway rink. We were going into
the changing rooms when this wee boy said “Hi mister. Do you play for Fife?” I replied “I do...” He replied
“Well, you know, you are getting beat tonight ‘cause the Rockets are the best!!”
I played with Jimmy for several years at Fife sometimes in the same line with him and Gordon Latto. I have
attached a pic of us winning Wembley playing in that line together.
Jimmy’s game was very simple - hard work, fast skating, aggressive fore-check in and a huge desire to
win. He always gave 100% plus and never shirked out of a challenge. A good leader on the ice and bench,
you never had to guess what Jimmy was thinking as, if he thought someone was slacking, he soon let them
know.
Jimmy spent a lot of time working on the oil rigs and missed 2 weeks out of 4 but you would never have
known as his fitness was superb.

14 REWIND OLDSCHOOL

Injuries - I remember one night in
the warm up Jimmy was skating
around the back of the net and
Andy Linton shot him in the ear
with the puck. Jimmy got patched
up and played in the game and got
it attended to later.
Jimmy was an automatic choice
when he was available for Scotland and GB teams. He also played
in many clubs throughout his career and it was no surprise when
he tried his hand at coaching. I
am unsure how many years he
coached but I think Jimmy would
have set the bar high as he always
gave 100% he would expect the same from his players.
All in all a great guy from a great era in British ice hockey when it was a 3 import league and the rest British
players
Pennycook arrived at Blackburn for the - now legendary - 1995/96 in HBL1, via spells with Dundee Rockets,
Fife Flyers, Tayside Tigers, Solihull Barons, Telford Tigers, Bracknell Bees, Teesside Bombers and Trafford
Metros, having spent at least a part of every season since 1983 in the Premier Division.
Ian McDade played with him on that team and said of him:
Playing with players like Jim Pennycook is very special. Every rink he went to he was coveted and treated
with such respect, by fans and players alike. Jim had so much knowledge and would give you subtle hints
that would improve your game. I played with him when he turned 40 and he was still one of the better players on the team. A genuinely nice guy too, modest and treated everybody equally.
Jim Pennycook made a huge contribution to the Hawks that season â&#x20AC;&#x201C; with 8 goals and an amazing 37
assists in 48 league games - and finished the 3rd highest British scorer on the team behind John Haig and
Jon Cotton.
Proving that he wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just around for the money, he stayed for the following 96/97 season in the lower
budget Northern Premier League as player coach and, using his contacts and reputation within the game,
was able to attract such players as Neil Abel, Bobby Haig and mid-season addition experienced Canadian
Todd Bidner.
Jim scored 8+32 in 32 league games and finished 2nd highest British scorer behind Bobby Haig. Attracting

15 REWIND OLDSCHOOL

a steady home support of around 800, the Hawks came 4th of out 7 in the league and then 4th in the Play Off
Championship round robin, although Pennycook wasn’t able to ice in the play offs.
The 1997-98 season saw Pennycook remain as Player Coach with the Hawks as the Northern Premier League
combined with teams from the Southern “Ice Hockey Premier League” in what was to become known as the
British National League.
The Hawks also had a new name as they tried changing their title to “Lancashire Hawks in bid to attract more
of a following from outside their home borough.
Unfortunately, the new league setup did not suit the lower budgeted northern teams who often had to play
against southern teams with up to 10 overseas players and the Hawks finished 2nd bottom with just 1 from 16
games. In fact, they did just as badly in the separate Northern League competition, winning just 2 of 16 games
and ended up bottom of the pile for the first ever time in their history.

Despite being almost 41, Pennycook still led the team by example and scored 15+17 in 41 league and
playoff games.
The following season saw the Hawks playing as “Blackburn” again – this time in the new English
League Premier Division which was set up to accommodate teams who still wanted to play import
hockey but couldn’t afford the higher costs of playing in the BNL along with the more ambitious of the
English League teams.
Bobby Haig took over the reins as player coach and began to usher in a new era of giving younger local
players a bigger role in the team.
Pennycook, however, still had his own - characteristic - leading role to play and took part in 22 league
and cup games but that was to be his last season of competitive hockey after an impressive career
stretching back some 25 years

Jim Pennycook (right) at the 25th Anniversary Legends game in April 2015, along
with Steve Moria, Konrad Tapp and Bobby Haig (Photo supplied by Konrad Tapp)

19 LIFEBLOOD

SHIRT SPONSORS

TO EVERYONE THAT HAS PURCHASED A MATCH WORN SHIRT YOU ARE ALL
HELPING THE HAWKS, AND WE WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND OUR GRATITUDE TO
YOU ALL BY ADDING YOUR NAMES EACH WEEK INTO THE PROGRAMME.

TO EVERYONE WHO IS INDIVIDUALLY SPONSORING OR PURCHASING
EQUIPMENT FOR THE HAWKS, WE WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND OUR GRATITUDE TO YOU
ALL BY ADDING YOUR NAMES INTO THE PROGRAMME. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY
SOME MUCH NEEDED KIT FOR THE TEAM, OR HAVE DONE SO THIS SEASON AND
WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED TO THE LIST THEN PLEASE CONTACT US

Player
22 Chris Arnone
47 Kim Miettinen

Sponsor
Matt Coates
Graham Smith

Name / Company
Just Vehicle Leasing Ltd

Item
Hockey Sticks

Riverside Garden Centre

Full Kit Sponsor

BLACKBURN HAWKS

Saturday 27st February 2016 - Face Off: 5:45

SCORING
Time Type

No. Name

G

A

A
A

C

5

Matt Viney

G

8

Aaron Davies

11

Jordan Bannon

13

Andy Dunn

15

David Meikle

19

Daniel MacKriel

21

Oliver Lomax

22

Chris Arnone

23

Tom King

25

Daniel Brittle

A

26

Adam Brittle

28

James Riddoch

31

Stuart Ashton

44

Max Drakeley

47

Kim Miettinen

67

Ben Simister

70

Lee Pollitt

91

Richard Bentham

65

Alan Amos

90

Hawks Fans

TOTAL

AA

No.

Chris Butler

NM

NM

PENALTIES

3

A

PIM

TOTAL

Mins

Offense

Given

Start

End

TONIGHTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S
Jacob Brownlie
FINAL
PERIOD SCORES

HAWKS
WILD

1

2

3

OT

HAWKS

VS WIDNES WILD
League Game - Blackburn Ice Arena

No. Name

A

A

NM

C

G

A

PIM

SCORING
Time Type

7

Thomas Ratcliffe

8

George Crawshaw

9

Ken Armstrong

10

Daniel Bullock

11

David Swanston

12

Geoff Wigglesworth

15

Lee Kemp

16

Joseph William Gilbert

19

Calum Ruddick

46

Chris Gee

47

Christopher Preston

51

Joshua Benstead

61

Kieran Michael Strangeway

64

Greg Ruxton

77

Scott Mckenzie

84

Thomas George Jackson

93

Shaun Dippnall

G

A

A

TOTAL

MVP
Team

TOTAL

Player No#

Hawks

PENALTIES

MASCOTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S
& Liam Hine
SCORE

WILD

No.

Mins

Wild
Offense

Given

Start

End

22 PLAYOFFWEEKEND

PLAYOFF UPDATE
Solway Sharks have pulled out the stops and have beaten the Billingham Stars by
4-2 putting the Sharks level on points with a massive four games in hand. Sharks
are looking like they will be reserving their place at the playoffs unless they have a
miserable run up in the end of the season. Whitley have already booked their place
and are hosting Solihull Barons on Saturday, Barons have been the team to watch
this season and already have their own eyes set on one of the two remaining playoff spots. Andre Payette is looking forward to catching up with Perry Doyle and
there could possibly be some fight action for the crowd. Whitley are often achieving gates of 1000+ supporters and a possible 1500 will be there on Saturday for
the expected fireworks. In the mean time Telford Tigers seem to be treading water
and have had five losses from their last seven games and will have to have a major
shake up to get to Sheffield now. We are still no closer to a prediction as to how the
table will ultimately end up. This is probably going to be the most competitive finish
to a season yet with any of several teams still able to qualify as it stands. We will be
seeing some double point matches coming up after all the snow around Christmas.
Just a gentle reminder, if you have been successful in the first ticketing phase, this
weekend is your final chance to pay for your play off tickets via Miek. Basically,
all those who have paid by the end of the Eagles game on Sunday evening will be
included in a block booking request made on the 1st March. If you havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t paid by
Sunday evening we will not be requesting any tickets for you. Miek will be at the
Arena tonight during the game and also Sunday during the Eagles game (in the bar).
Please search her out if you would like to be included.
Teams with their place booked for the playoff finals so far..

BLACKBURN HAWKS
WHITLEY WARRIORS
?????
?????

FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY PLEASE
KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PUCK AT
ALL TIMES

THE PUCK CAN AND WILL LEAVE
THE ICE AND FLYING PUCKS CAN
BE VERY DANGEROUS

28 NIHLROUNDUP

NIHL ROUNDUP is an exciting new weekly service coming direct to our
devices every week live. Listen in on your way to the Hawks match
as the podcast is running from 3pm to 4pm every Saturday. It’s too
late for this weeks programme but we will write a short review for our
next issue. You will need to sign up to listen to the podcast but you
can do this in advance and it is very easy to do.
A NEW weekly NIHL dedicated podcast - focusing on all teams in the
league with news, results, interviews and views from the fans.
Our first LIVE podcast will be streamed at
http://mixlr.com/nihlroundup
Saturday at 3PM! We’ll be talking to fans through social media and
phone-in’s live during the podcast.
We’ll be utilising a whole host of content from match reports,
interviews, forums and lots more to bring you the
complete NIHL Roundup and if that wasn’t enough, we’ll be sharing
content and working with NIHL Radio!

Give them a listen and a follow on...

facebook.com/NIHLRoundUp
Twitter @NIHLRoundup

29 PLAYERSPOTLIGHT

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT
JAMES RIDDOCH #28 GP15 G4 A5 TP 9 PIM2

James has been playing with the Hawks for two seasons
now and is making his mark with 4 goals and 5 assists
already this season. Also helping the Eagles with their
playoff push and James is certainly one to watch. Here
is a little about our ever smiling forward.
My first experience of Ice Hockey
was going to watch the Hawks with
my brother, I became interested
and bought my first ever kit from
Alan Amos when I was nine years
old. Since then I have played right
the way through the junior system
at Blackburn. In my junior years I
achieved the Most Valuable Player,
Rookie of the Year, Most Improved,
Best Forward and Players Player
awards.
I am currently in my 4th season
with Blackburn Eagles, and I am
also using the opportunity the
Hawks have given me over the last
two years to play and train with
them every week.
I am always looking to improve and develop as a player and I think that playing
for the Eagles and Hawks is helping me to do just that. I feel this season has
been my best yet. Currently pushing for the playoffs with the Eagles is a great
achievement and becoming a more productive player for the Hawks has given
me the confidence to push my hockey to the next level.
Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had a couple of memorable games this season, firstly getting 3 goals and
2 assists against Bradford earlier this season was a great game for me and also
scoring 2 goals for the Hawks against Telford was another. My favorite hockey
moment was scoring my first Hawks goal against Solway last year; I went on to
score another that same game.
My biggest achievement so far would be winning the league and playoffs with
the Hawks last year, it was a great experience for me and I am hoping that we
will do the same again this year!

34 CALLMERAY

Graham Lomax is...
R
E
X
I
F
E
TH

G

raham Lomax is the
Media and PR
manager for the
Hawks. If you broke him in
half he would read
Blackburn Hawks all the way
through the middle. Here
are some of his thoughts
from the last few weeks.

Some of you may be aware that we’ve had a little trip away last week.
Some of the Hawks staff, players and fans went over to see Helsinki, the
home of our current import Kim Miettinen, and also our former player Sami
Narkia who we caught up with and watched play (more on that later).
I’d had one eye on the weather over the past few weeks, and between the
eight of us travelling we’d started a chat group for obvious reasons, updates, tickets, etc etc etc, including weather, and most of us dressed accordingly for temperatures that could go to around minus 20 degrees.
As we landed we all prepared to disembark with our scarves and big coats
all excited at what was in store and awaiting for us, sadly one individual in
our group thought it would be a great idea to travel in his Adidas Trainers
and ankle socks. Now I’m no Chris Bonnington but as we stood over our
colleague as he lay flat on his back at the bottom of the plane steps with
his watch in a thousand pieces, I realised that the majority had clearly read
all the updates and knew what to expect, sadly one other didn’t and had
paid the price by slipping on his backside and bouncing down the last four
steps, as I joined him on the transport vehicle to the terminal he was literally licking his wounds, his name………….James Hughes! Please feel free to
mock and abuse him accordingly!! On arrival at our lovely hotel, we began
the check in process which was the duty of our Cultural Ambassador for the
trip Mr Howard Thornton. Unfortunately there was some sort of issue and
confusion, we’d been allocated four double rooms and not four twins! Now

Big H as we like to call him (for obvious reasons) stuck out his ample chest
and declared that he was the one who had booked this and he would sort it.
Up he stepped to the Reception and immediately turned into Steve McLaren, you know the one when he did an interview with a Dutch accent, I book
these rooms in DECEMBER!! With Low Cost HOLIDAYS!! Each time the last
word went an octave HIGHER!!……..Ha Ha tickled me that and gave me and
the boy’s ample ammunition to give it to H (my room mate) for the rest of
the trip. This wasn’t the only time he had to get involved either, on Friday
morning we went for a walk, we had a look at the national stadium and
went to see if we could get a look inside IFK Helsinki’s rink,
unfortunately there was another event on, but as normal our spokesman
decided he’d try to get in anyway, he did, but him and Oz Phillips were
quickly asked to leave! Whilst leaving Howard asked a rather grumpy
Steward where the nearest Hockey Shop was, he just pointed North, and
we set off walking. After about an hour we stopped at a petrol station, and
Howard and Oz asked for directions, and were told that there was no such
shop round these parts, and the nearest one was back past the rink from
whence we came.
So, we headed back through the snow, the lead of party being Howard
(of course) Oz and Myself, and everyone else was about 500 yards behind.
As we reached the Rink, Howard spotted the Steward who had sent us on a
wild Goose chase - it was quite easy really as he was wearing a Bright
Hi-vis Jacket. The next thing you heard was H shouting “Oi, You, come
here” and H set off towards his prey, Oz in a blind panic was shouting
“Howard, Howard, come back”, it was not to be as he had his sights
firmly set and he was homing in, at this Oz began to set off into the
distance, I myself stood there with a cheeky grin, as I found the whole

situation hilarious! To be
honest it’s not the first time
I’ve been around something
like this as Gary Rogers will
testify at “Busgate”. However, I digress. Upon meeting
his Nemesis, Howard gave
him both barrels in his Steve
McLaren accent and accused
our Finnish friend of lying
to us. I can’t repeat the
words he used, but it’s not
for children’s ears, at one
point arms were raised, and
as I wiped away my tears
of laughter, Oz had disappeared into the distance and
the rest of the gang caught
up and we began to discuss
what we had all witnessed
and waited for the Sirens
as we’d surely created an
international incident.On the
Saturday we’d arranged to
go and watch Viikingit (the
team we played pre season)
and our old friend Sami. We
spent some time in a lovely shopping centre killing a
few hours prior to the game
before heading to the
Hockey Rink where on
arrival we were given the
grand tour. Not a pair of
hire skates to be seen, it was a purpose built facility with two pads purely
for Hockey, but limited viewing. Sadly Viikingit lost the game 7-2 but the
quality on display was amazing. We’d arranged to go to the Local Pub with
the team after the game (it would be rude not to) and we all waited for
the team and management to emerge as they were providing transport for
us the to drinking establishment. We had to wait a while as they lost the
game the management held a series of meetings to determine why. However, whilst we waited, our Community Liason Officer Chris Riley asked me
where the toilets were, I told him they were at the top of the steps and off
he went. Within seconds the management emerged and declared we could
all go to the pub now and we ran out into the Wintery Snow and jumped

into three different cars as we sheltered from the Weather. Oz, Aiden and
myself just happened to be in Finnish Legend Mika Strombergs BMW and
we drifted our way to the Pub, (great fun). I bought the first round (shock
horror) and the rest of the
gang came running in (or
so we thought) shaking
the snow from their coats.
We’d all been sat down
about 20 mins chatting
all things Hockey before
Ollie’s phone started
ringing, he looked at it
and said “Chris Riley? Why
is Chris calling me?” and
turned round to ask Chris
himself, you know what’s
coming next don’t you?,
Yes, we’d left him behind
in the toilet in all the
confusion!
On arrival after Sami went to fetch him he began to explain, he thought
we were playing the age old joke
of hiding and pretending we’d
left him, and therefore he wasn’t
prepared to join in and give us the
satisfaction, so he sat there waiting, and waiting, and waiting, until
he realised! We had actually gone
without him and he eventually
called for help. All in all, it was a
great trip and it was good to catch
up with some old friends. who
knows what the future holds, we
now have some solid contacts and
allies in a country that lives and
breathes Hockey. We had a few
conversations about partnerships
with Viikingit and it would seem
daft not to explore these avenues,
wouldn’t it?
Thanks for now…………G